Music

Glasgow's No1

With their debut album W.L. topping the British charts, Snuts frontman Jack Cochrane and drummer Joko Mackay took time out to talk goals and Glasgow with James Hanley

United by music, chart-topping Scottish rockers The Snuts are divided when it comes to the beautiful game. Frontman Jack Cochrane is an ardent Celtic fan, while drummer Jordan ‘Joko’ Mackay follows Steven Gerrard’s SPL champions Rangers, who recently thwarted their Glasgow rival’s bid for a record 10 Scottish titles in a row. Sounds like it’s for the best, then, that the pair’s football agnostic bandmates – guitarist Joe McGillveray and bassist Callum Wilson – are usually on hand to keep the peace.

“They’re mediators, they just hold us apart,” says Cochrane, laughing as he speaks to Champions Journal over Zoom. “I’m maybe a bit ropey on the day of an Old Firm game, but generally on tour we’ll find a boozer somewhere and watch it together. There’s no animosity and it’s good for the gloating. Well, it has been for me in the last wee while, but not this year!”

Shunsuke Nakamura celebrates against Manchester United in 2006

The Parlophone-signed band, whose debut album W.L. went straight in at No1 in April, are due back on the road for a UK tour this autumn. They have been busy during the pandemic, recording their LP in the studio (“our life’s work”), playing a livestream show from Stirling Castle (“we could book out a full castle because of the pandemic”) and gracing the FIFA 21 soundtrack (“always the dream”), as well as squeezing in two socially distanced shows supporting The Libertines.

“You know that old saying about meeting your heroes, but they were absolute gentlemen,” says Cochrane. “Pete Doherty was handing out warm tea bags for our cold hands.”

The Snuts (l-r): Callum Wilson, Joe McGillveray, Jack Cochrane and Joko Mackay

Having grown up in West Lothian, The Snuts upped sticks to nearby Glasgow in 2020. As the name suggests, their latest single (Glasgow) is an ode to their adopted hometown. “I can see Parkhead from my window, but I’ve only been this season to throw stuff at the buses,” jokes Cochrane. “There are two massive clubs and the rivalry is so deep rooted, but it’s also such a friendly city. It’s a common misconception that it’s a dangerous place to go, football-wise.”

“People always talk about Scottish crowds at gigs,” says Mackay, nodding. “But you can go to Partick Thistle on a Wednesday night and it’ll be absolutely jumping. It’s a big city and they love their football.”

As the setting for two of the most iconic moments in the history of Europe’s top club competition, Glasgow’s place in football folklore has been enshrined for generations. The city’s Hampden Park hosted the classic 1960 final, where an Alfredo Di Stéfano and Ferenc Puskás-inspired Real Madrid swept aside Eintracht Frankfurt (who had seen off Rangers in the semis) by seven goals to three, to pick up their fifth consecutive European Cup.

Forty-two years later, the same stadium witnessed one of the all-time great Champions League goals – Zinédine Zidane’s stunning left-footed volley against Bayer Leverkusen – as Madrid again triumphed over German opposition.

I REMEMBER RANGERS PLAYED BARCELONA IN 2007/08 AND IT WAS A 0-0 DRAW, SO I CANNOT SAY THAT WAS A HIGHLIGHT, BUT SEEING RANGERS GO UP AGAINST LEGENDS LIKE RONALDINHO WAS QUITE COOL.

Joko Mackay

“That’s before my time to be honest with you,” admits 26-year-old Cochrane, who names a moment of magic from the 2006/07 group stage as his personal favourite. “I’ll never forget Shunsuke Nakamura’s free- kick against Man United,” he says. “He was a free-kick wizard. Tony Watt’s goal against Barcelona [in 2012/13] was another classic, but for some reason Nakamura’s free-kick sticks with me – it was a topper.”

Scotland’s legacy goes on: Celtic’s legendary Lisbon Lions became the UK’s first European Cup winners in 1967, beating Inter Milan 2-1, while Rangers were one of the eight teams to compete in the inaugural Champions League group stage in 1992/93.

Mackay, 27, has the resurgent Gers’ first Champions League campaign in a decade to look forward to next season. But he’s left with slim pickings when it comes to the recent past, with both Glasgow giants failing to progress beyond the last 16 in the modern era. “I remember Rangers played Barcelona in 2007/08 and it was a 0-0 draw, so I cannot say that was a highlight,” he reflects. “But seeing Rangers go up against legends like Ronaldinho was quite cool.”

As with The Snuts, the best is surely yet to come.

Listen to The Snuts:

“You know that old saying about meeting your heroes, but they were absolute gentlemen,” says Cochrane. “Pete Doherty was handing out warm tea bags for our cold hands.”

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The Snuts (l-r): Callum Wilson, Joe McGillveray, Jack Cochrane and Joko Mackay

I REMEMBER RANGERS PLAYED BARCELONA IN 2007/08 AND IT WAS A 0-0 DRAW, SO I CANNOT SAY THAT WAS A HIGHLIGHT, BUT SEEING RANGERS GO UP AGAINST LEGENDS LIKE RONALDINHO WAS QUITE COOL.

Joko Mackay

As with The Snuts, the best is surely yet to come.

Listen to The Snuts:

“You know that old saying about meeting your heroes, but they were absolute gentlemen,” says Cochrane. “Pete Doherty was handing out warm tea bags for our cold hands.”

The Snuts (l-r): Callum Wilson, Joe McGillveray, Jack Cochrane and Joko Mackay

I REMEMBER RANGERS PLAYED BARCELONA IN 2007/08 AND IT WAS A 0-0 DRAW, SO I CANNOT SAY THAT WAS A HIGHLIGHT, BUT SEEING RANGERS GO UP AGAINST LEGENDS LIKE RONALDINHO WAS QUITE COOL.

Joko Mackay

As with The Snuts, the best is surely yet to come.

Listen to The Snuts:

Insight

Glasgow's greatest...

PUB

Jack Cochrane: “There’s a bar on High Street in the East End called McChuills. It’s predominantly Celtic in there but it’s a really big music pub, so on a matchday you’ve got great music as well as the football atmosphere. You’re always going to get two answers with us being Rangers and Celtic fans!”

‍Jordan ‘Joko’ Mackay: “Probably the Louden Tavern, it’s a Rangers pub. For any travelling fans coming across, man, just go to a Wetherspoon’s!”

‍DRINK

Joko: “Buckfast, mate. It’s got that much caffeine in it, your adrenaline will be pumping all night. It’s great!”

Jack: “Aye, you’ll have 90 minutes of action with a bottle of Buckfast in you, for sure! We actually used to drink a bottle of wine each before we went on stage, but that became a bit problematic. So we’ve cut that down.”

PLACE

Joko: “The Barras Market, when it’s 100% full- on, is definitely a place you need to see.”

Jack: “Yeah man, the Barrowlands Market is amazing. I think it’s one of the last markets left in Scotland – and probably Britain – that just sells everything. You’ll get a full World War Two army uniform next to an old dishwasher, so it’s got something for everybody.”

BEAUTY SPOT

Joko: “The Devil’s Pulpit? I think that’s in the Loch Lomond area, to be fair.”‍

Jack: “Oh, Loch Lomond man! It’s 20 minutes on the train from Glasgow city centre and it’s beautiful, basically.”

MUSIC VENUE

Jack: “We love the Barrowlands, everybody does. It’s just got this atmosphere where it’s like martial law. There are no holds barred: there’s fighting, kissing, loving and people getting married all at one time, man!”

Joko: “Yeah, Barrowlands or King Tut’s. They’re the two venues in Glasgow that always get spoken about and they’re probably the best.”

PRE-MATCH SONG

Jack: “I was proper young, but I remember watching Celtic v Liverpool in the [2002/03] UEFA Cup and both sets of fans had their scarfs up for You’ll Never Walk Alone. Joko, you can have Tina Turner if you want, eh?”

‍Joko: “Aye, Simply the Best, it’s great in the stadium.”

Jack: “The best one was at TRNSMT Festival three years ago when James Bay was playing. He was halfway through his set and he started singing Simply the Best to 100,000 people in Glasgow. Half the crowd were like, ‘Yes!’ The other half went, ‘Boooo!’ And he was just on the stage like, ‘What the hell did I do?’”

Insight

Glasgow's greatest...

PUB

‍Jordan ‘Joko’ Mackay: “Probably the Louden Tavern, it’s a Rangers pub. For any travelling fans coming across, man, just go to a Wetherspoon’s!”

‍DRINK

Joko: “Buckfast, mate. It’s got that much caffeine in it, your adrenaline will be pumping all night. It’s great!”

PLACE

Joko: “The Barras Market, when it’s 100% full- on, is definitely a place you need to see.”

BEAUTY SPOT

Joko: “The Devil’s Pulpit? I think that’s in the Loch Lomond area, to be fair.”‍

Jack: “Oh, Loch Lomond man! It’s 20 minutes on the train from Glasgow city centre and it’s beautiful, basically.”

MUSIC VENUE

Joko: “Yeah, Barrowlands or King Tut’s. They’re the two venues in Glasgow that always get spoken about and they’re probably the best.”

PRE-MATCH SONG

‍Joko: “Aye, Simply the Best, it’s great in the stadium.”

Insight

Glasgow's greatest...

PUB

‍Jordan ‘Joko’ Mackay: “Probably the Louden Tavern, it’s a Rangers pub. For any travelling fans coming across, man, just go to a Wetherspoon’s!”

‍DRINK

Joko: “Buckfast, mate. It’s got that much caffeine in it, your adrenaline will be pumping all night. It’s great!”

PLACE

Joko: “The Barras Market, when it’s 100% full- on, is definitely a place you need to see.”

BEAUTY SPOT

Joko: “The Devil’s Pulpit? I think that’s in the Loch Lomond area, to be fair.”‍

Jack: “Oh, Loch Lomond man! It’s 20 minutes on the train from Glasgow city centre and it’s beautiful, basically.”

MUSIC VENUE

Joko: “Yeah, Barrowlands or King Tut’s. They’re the two venues in Glasgow that always get spoken about and they’re probably the best.”

PRE-MATCH SONG

‍Joko: “Aye, Simply the Best, it’s great in the stadium.”